NOUN (2)

1. a member of the mercantile and professional Hindu caste; the third of the four main castes;

2. the third of the four varnas: the commoners or yeoman farmers or mercantile and professional category;

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Vaisya \Vais"ya\, n. [Skr. vai[,c]ya.]
   The third of the four great original castes among the Hindus,
   now either extinct or partially represented by the mercantile
   class of Banyas. See the Note under Caste, 1.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Vaisya
    n 1: a member of the mercantile and professional Hindu caste;
         the third of the four main castes
    2: the third of the four varnas: the commoners or yeoman farmers
       or mercantile and professional category